Steward Health Faces Lawsuits, Considers Selling 4 Hospitals

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Concerns over the financial future of Steward Health Care continue, with reports that the system, which owns three facilities locally, is considering the sale of four hospitals in Massachusetts.

Additionally, two pending civil cases in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, first reported by WFMJ, and previously closed cases and tax liens filed by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation against Steward show the hospitals in Massachusetts are not the only locations where Steward allegedly is not paying its bills.

Penn Care Inc. in Niles is suing for $67,940, providing records showing alleged unpaid invoices for supplies provided to Trumbull Regional Medical Center going back to Oct. 15, 2021, and continuing through summer 2022. The lawsuit was filed in early January.

Another civil lawsuit filed by Becdel Controls Inc. of Niles in late December 2023, claims Steward owes $61,674 for electrical work performed at Trumbull Regional Medical Center.

In Massachusetts, the hospitals Steward is looking to unload are Norwood Hospital, Nashoba Valley Medical Center, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton and Holy Family Hospital, according to reports by The Patriot Ledger, a publication in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Locally, Steward owns Trumbull Regional Medical Center, Sharon Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital. A hospital spokesperson reiterated a statement from last week that indicated the hospital system remains committed to patients and communities served by those three medical facilities. Additionally, she said there are no plans to close the local hospitals.

Once based in Boston, Massachusetts, but now in Dallas, Texas, Steward Health Care operates more than 30 community hospitals across nine states and employs more than 30,000. However, concerns have been raised amid reports of a hospital closure at New England Sinai Hospital and lawsuits claiming the hospital system has not been fully paying bills, including rent.

These issues led Boston-area legislators to publicly point out their concerns about the potential health care crisis that could be created if additional Steward hospitals in Massachusetts were to close.

Pictured at top: Trumbull Regional Medical Center in Warren

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.